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Where and when are lightning deaths most common?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The third full week of each June is designated as National Lightning Safety Awareness Week.Since 2006, almost 500 people have been killed by lightning strikes, according to the National Lightning Safety Council. Only five states have not recorded a lightning death during that time: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, New Hampshire and Washington.Fatal lightning strikes are most common in Florida, with 86 deaths reported since 2006. Texas ranks second nationwide, with 39 deaths, ahead of Colorado (24), Alabama (21) and North Carolina (21).When adjusted for population, Wyoming has the highest fatality rate, with 5.16 lightning deaths for every 1 million people. The District of Columbia is second, with a rate of 4.47 per 1 million, ahead of Montana (4.45), Alabama (4.14) and Colorado (4.11).Who is most likely to get killed by lightning?The number of deaths per year has fallen since the mid 2000s. Both 2006 and 2007 saw more than 40 deaths nationwide, compared to fewer than 20 eac...

Hang out with the aliens this summer in Texas - Here's how

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

DALLAS (KDAF) — Texas has been known to have its fair share of alien sightings in the state. So it's not surprising that Marfa, Texas, has an official viewing area for sights of the unknown ie; dancing, floating orb-colored lights. Marfa Lights Viewing Center is open and free to the public, many have said they have encountered firsthand unexplained mystery lights at the center. Which has caused more people to attend events centering around the mysterious lights. The city has even gone as far as to embrace the paranormal phenomena than sweep it under the rug, by hosting a weekend-long Marfa Lights Festival annually in the city's downtown. For more information on the center and Marfa's mysterious lights visit here.

Drunk drivers in Texas will have to pay child support if parents killed in crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A new law in Texas will force drunk drivers who kill a parent in a crash to pay for the victim's child support.House Bill 393 states that a defendant convicted of intoxication manslaughter will be ordered to pay restitution for a child whose parent or guardian was the victim of the offense.The bill, which was filed by Texas Rep. Craig Goldman, goes on to say that a court will determine the amount to be paid monthly until the child reaches 18 years old, or graduates high school. The payment amount will be determined by several factors, including the standard of living the child is accustomed to, physical and emotional condition, educational needs and other financial needs.The law will only apply to offenses committed on or after the effective date. The law will go into effect on Sept. 1.

Late goals allowed haunt Minnesota United this season

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

Justen Glad isn’t the only player to score a 98th minute goal against Minnesota United this season.The Real Salt Lake defender blasted a shot into the back of the net on Saturday to stifle MNUFC in a 2-2 draw in Sandy, Utah; It was similar to Simon Becher’s very late goal to stick the Loons with a 1-1 draw with Vancouver at Allianz Field on March 25.It’s a bad habit for MNUFC this season. The Loons have now dropped nine points from winning positions this season and are now 4-1-3 when scoring the first goal in matches. They have conceded six goals late in games (after the 75th minute) in 2023.These are the type of results that can haunt a club scratching to get into the MLS Cup Playoffs. MNUFC (5-7-6, 21 points) now sit in 12th place, while nine clubs make the Western Conference field.“We took a point from a game we should have taken three and that’s disappointing,” manager Adrian Heath said via conference call with reporters. “We have some work to do with certain people.”The pain do...

Obituary: Nel Schweiss, the East Side’s Flower Lady, ‘saw the worth of everyone’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

When Annelda “Nel” Schweiss moved into her apartment on St. Paul’s East Side about 10 years ago, she immediately started planting flowers on the mangy piece of land next door.Schweiss cleared out weeds, rock and trash from the site, located near the Bruce Vento Regional Trail, and transformed it into “a pocket of beauty on Maryland Avenue,” said Marie Grimm, a longtime East Side resident. “It started out small. Each year, she would dig just a little bit more … adding more and more beautiful flowers, rocks arranged in small beds and a white bird bath.”Nel Schweiss, 84, of St. Paul, died June 11, 2023. (Courtesy of Robert McNamara)Schweiss, known around the East Side as “The Flower Lady,” died June 11 at Regions Hospital in St. Paul of complications related to cancer, eight days after she was diagnosed, family members said. She was 84.Schweiss spent countless hours working in the garden and would chat with “anyone and everyone” who walked by, said Robert McNamara, a ...

Farhad Manjoo: You can’t win a debate against someone who disregards facts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

In the summer of 2006, I jumped into the ring for a few rounds of debate with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was peddling reckless claims about an important issue on which he lacked expertise. It wasn’t vaccines. It was the 2004 presidential race. In an article for Rolling Stone, Kennedy suggested that the election had been stolen from John Kerry — a suggestion that, after thorough reporting, didn’t hold up.But now I see where I went wrong. Not on the merits; there’s still no case that Kerry actually won in 2004. My mistake was attempting to debate and debunk Kennedy in the first place. At best, the effort was a waste of time and energy; at worst, a big bow-wrapped gift of the thing a conspiracy theorist desires most — recognition that his arguments are important enough to merit serious debate.After getting in the mud with Kennedy all those years ago, I realized something important that we’d do well to remember now, as Kennedy mounts a long-shot run against Joe Biden for the Democratic ...

11 named to St. Paul’s reparations commission

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

The St. Paul City Council recently announced the 11 members of the St. Paul Recovery Act Reparations Commission, who will serve terms of one, two, or three years.The Commission, formed in response to racial injustices in the city, will serve as an advisory board to the City Council and Mayor Melvin Carter on issues related to racial disparities for American descendants of slavery. The council created the commission in January and received 48 applications to serve.Trahern Crews, Lead Organizer with Black Lives Matter Minnesota, speaks as he and other local activists express their support for embattled St. Paul state representative John Thompson during a news conference in the Rotunda at the state Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)Many local governments have shown an interest in racial reparations since the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the racial reckoning that followed.“Being a permanent part of the government is what sets us apart from o...

Violent night in St. Louis leaves at least 6 people shot

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Another violent weekend in St. Louis. At least six people shot since Saturday afternoon and a lot of police responded outside a bar in The Grove neighborhood just after midnight as pride celebrations were wrapping up.In addition to five separate shootings in downtown, there has also been reports of a suspected stabbing here at 'Taha'a Twisted Tiki Bar' in The Grove. It hasn't been confirmed by police just yet but if so, it would already add to a violent weekend.Six people were shot all in downtown Saturday in five separate incidents. Of that total, one person died from their injuries. Violent night in St. Louis leaves at least 6 people shot The violence started just after 9:00 p.m. and went through the early morning hours of Sunday. The latest incident just a few hours ago.The first incident happened on the 4400 block of Kennerly Road, where a woman was shot and killed. She is the one confirmed dead. A few hours later at midnight, a man was shot in the leg on Leduc St...

Temperature highs in 90s Sunday, possible rain by second half of work week

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Unfortunately, we mostly missed out on the rain. The exception was a few storms that rolled across our far northern counties late Saturday night.  The cold front continues moving through, but most of the area has plenty of time to heat up ahead of its passage and the cooler air is lagging behind. Northern counties will be cooler Sunday, but along and south of I-70 we'll be back up into the 90s with gusty winds. St. Louis radar: See a map of current weather here The front should clear the area before storms develop again out ahead of it later Sunday to our east. It'll be mostly clear with temperature highs in the 60s to near 70 overnight. Monday will feel better with temp highs in the upper 80s and lower humidity. Expect gusty winds to continue. Rain chances increase for the second half of the work week.

Long COVID patients in Colorado are still struggling as the world moves on: “We’re fighting for our lives”

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:56:00 GMT

Chelsey Baker-Hauck hoped to celebrate her 50th birthday by hiking across Scotland, but when the day finally came earlier this month, she was relieved just not to have to spend it in a chair at an infusion center.The Denver resident keeps a typed list of her persistent health symptoms that runs a page-and-a-half, not including the ones that resolved within the first six months after her initial COVID-19 infection. Her existing symptoms got worse and new ones developed after a reinfection — and at least temporarily after receiving the vaccine — leading her doctors to conclude her immune system was mistakenly targeting its own tissues when it mobilized against the virus’ spike protein.As a result, Baker-Hauck has suffered a loss of feeling and difficulty moving on her left side, abnormal heart rhythms and trouble chewing and swallowing — to the point that it can take hours to finish a meal.It’s still not entirely clear why her immune system changed drasti...